** Breaking News**

Positive Changes to Working Holidaymaker Scheme Announced. Click here for more

"Your passport please..."

Many travelers go to the UK to work as well as see the sights. This does not only provide people with the invaluable experience of living and working abroad, it also generates enough cash for them to travel further afield.

Commonwealth citizens, including Australians and New Zealanders are allowed to stay in the UK for up to six months without a visa. If you plan to stay longer, or intend to work, you must obtain a Working Holidaymaker visa.

To qualify for a British Working Holidaymakers Visa you must:

• Be a Commonwealth citizen aged 17-30.
• Be able to pay for your onward journey
• Be intending to leave the UK at the end of your stay, two years maximum from the date of arrival.
• Have not been granted a UK Working Holidaymakers Visa in the past.
• Be able to support yourself without recourse to public funds.

Who is Eligible to Work in the UK?

• British Citizens
• Citizens of European Community countries
• People who can prove UK patriality or ancestry (parent/s or grandparent/s born in the UK)
• Citizens of the Commonwealth countries aged between 17-30 (Working Holidaymaker Visa)

Single travellers between the age of 17 and 30 are permitted to spend up to two years in the UK. The visa must be obtained before you arrive. The visa allows you to work one year full-time or two years part-time. Any work that is undertaken in the UK has to be " incidental to a holiday" and not a "business or a career move"-and providing any work in a professional field is undertaken only through a temporary contract with a recruitment agency, rather than directly with a employer.

Applying for a Visa

Application requirements and procedures for every country of origin vary, so you must contact your local British Consulate, High commission or Embassy. If you are applying by post, send your passport by registered mail to ensure it does not get lost.

Visa processing times vary from 4-6 weeks due to seasonal demand and backlog. It is wise to check for delays before buying tickets and making firm plans. You have to send your passport to be visa stamped and so without it you can't go anywhere. You should really be applying for your visa 2-3 months prior to your departure date.

Take Note

In general, the British High Commission requires all Working Holidaymaker applicants to have at least $4500 in their own personal account before departing Australia. The application fee for a Working Holiday visa is $99.00 plus $11.00 for return registered postage.

For further information on the eligibility and to process your Visa application, please contact:

British High Commission (Australia)
Level 10, SAP House Canberra Centre Canberra
Tel: +61 2 1902 941 555 (premium rate call)
Fax: +61 2 6257 5857
Email: bhc.consular@uk.emb.gov.au

To log onto the official UK website stating current policy and conditions about all the visas available, go to: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind

Be warned, when phoning most High Commissions you will have to wait in a queue before you talk to an adviser. Phoning can be a lengthy and costly task.

London Calling recommends you to have a look at The British High Commission's website www.uk.emb.gov.au Attached to the Working Holiday Visa information is an application sheet.

Whatever you do, do not turn up at Heathrow Airport expecting to be able to pick up a visa. The British government is making it increasingly difficult to get into the country and sorting out your visa before setting off is essential.

2-year Working Holiday Visas

You must be aged between 17 and 30 years old inclusive (if you are 30 years old, then you must apply for the visa before you turn 31)

Your two-year work visa starts from the date it is issued in Australia NOT when you get it stamped entering the UK. If you are not entering the UK straight away you can ask the BHC to post date it, but it will only be post dated up to 3 months.

Eg: If you are planning to arrive in London on the 1st of October but you are departing Australia in July and travelling via The States or Thailand for a few months, you should let the BHC know your plans and they will post date your visa from the date it was originally issued in Australia. This makes sure you don't lose out on 3 or 4 months of your working holiday visa.

If the visa has been issued prior to your expected date of travel, you should be aware that you cannot enter the UK before the "valid from" date given on the visa.